When Ryan Hankey took over as coach of the Penn-Trafford boys soccer program, his main goal was getting his team back into the WPIAL playoffs.
And with two games left in the season, the Warriors secured third place in Section 3-A.
Now Hankey wants to see his team win playoff games.
The Warriors were 8-5-1 overall and 6-4-1 in the section behind Latrobe and Franklin Regional. It is a marked improvement from the team’s 5-11-2 record in 2023.
“We’ve shown steady improvement,” Hankey said. “It is a great accomplishment for them. They worked hard in the offseason, and it is showing on the field.”
Hankey said 30 to 40 players showed up for summer workouts in July. And they also had good attendance for conditioning and weightlifting.
Hankey, a Gateway graduate who was a goalkeeper at West Virginia, spent the past eight seasons rebuilding Penn Hills. His crowning achievement there was getting the Indians into the playoffs in 2021.
Senior forward J.J. Porter leads the Warriors with 14 goals. Sophomore Noah Haslam has seven goals, and junior Yuriy Bidochko has nine.
“J.J. has great scoring ability,” Hankey said. “He is fast, has great vision and is a fighter. He never stops.”
Junior Jose Chaves has been strong in goal.
“We tied and beat Taylor Allderdice and lost close battles to Latrobe and Franklin Regional,” Hankey said. “I see no reason why we won’t win games in the playoffs.”
Others Hankey is counting on include junior midfielder Brennen Neubauer, freshman midfielder Trevor Porter, freshman defender Dom Daykon, senior defender Chad Pusateri, senior midfielder Justin Horan, senor goalie Gavin Buzzard, junior forward Cooper Geyer and freshman Blake Porter.
“This group now believes they can win,” Hankey said. “They feel they are headed in the right direction. We wanted to get back in the playoffs and we did.”
On Oct. 9, the Warriors earned a 7-0 win over Uniontown in Section 3-3A. Geyer and Pusateri scored two goals apiece.
Penn-Trafford concluded the season Oct. 12 with a nonsection match at Kiski Area and a section match Oct. 15 at Belle Vernon.
Then it is on to the playoffs.